


By Midnight

by vanitaslaughing



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Episode Ignis Verse 2, Gen, Gladio Resets the Timeline every Time Noctis Dies, Not Really Character Death, Temporary Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-25
Updated: 2018-04-25
Packaged: 2019-04-27 18:09:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14431239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vanitaslaughing/pseuds/vanitaslaughing
Summary: The Shield is linked to their liege.To a point they can undo a death before the royal's destiny has been fulfilled properly.Gladio gets to prevent all those pointless deaths Noctis has along the way. Somehow. Whether he wants to or not - it is his duty as Shield of the King.





	By Midnight

**Author's Note:**

> (writes this instead of mentally preparing for work or continuing the next chapter of tu fui)  
> why am i so anxious!! america explain!!

The king returned from Tenebrae.

Alone.

He all but collapsed into his father’s arms, a strained sound escaping him, and Gladio realised that Prince Noctis wouldn’t be coming back. Niflheim had murdered the Oracle and her children, and a stray bullet had torn through King Regis, through Prince Noctis. The king lived – the prince didn’t. There had been enough incidents of people never returning lately, and he couldn’t bear looking at the king as he sobbed in front of his father and Ignis Scientia. The boy made no sound whatsoever, but Gladio saw it in his eyes. That flash of grief that was washed away by something that he could only describe as _seething rage._

That night, a strange whisper filled his room as he sat on his bed still not entirely able to grasp the situation. It made his head hurt and his vision blur, and Gladio sat there holding his head in his hands choking back tears. Prince Noctis hadn’t deserved that.

He still went to bed. Tomorrow his father and the king would need him.

* * *

The king returned from Tenebrae.

The prince looked like he had seen a ghost.

Wait, _what?_ Hadn’t the king returned yesterday _without_ the prince? Hadn’t Ignis Scientia looked like he was ready to march into Niflheim to assassinate the emperor despite only being ten years old? How come he was now holding the prince in an almost crushing embrace? How was the prince still alive in the first place? Why wasn’t the king collapsing into his father’s arms, why weren’t the people unable to really react to the situation?

His father noticed how bewildered he looked and called for servants to take care of the king and the prince, once they managed to peel Noctis out of Ignis’ arms.

“Son, a word.”

He followed his father like a child about to receive a stern scolding. Most people barely paid attention to the Shield of the King Clarus Amicitia and his son Gladiolus marching to the room his father usually slept in. Clarus even locked the door behind them, and suddenly he wasn’t sure what to think of this. His father never looked that serious unless he was about to talk about a Shield’s duties.

“You’re not in trouble, Gladio. Come, sit down on the bed.”

He really wanted Jared to be here. Or Iris, no matter how loud the three-year-old was. But instead he slowly sat down on his father’s bed while his father grabbed a nearby chair and a calendar from the desk.

“Gladio, what day is it?”

“Thursday.”

“It’s Wednesday.”

He narrowed his eyes and hugged himself. Was his father messing with him?

“No, it’s Thursday. I went to bed on Wednesday, which means it has to be Thursday. The sun set and rose and all that, dad.”

Clarus sighed and handed him the calendar. Digital ones never erred, and Gladio was certain he’d see that it was Thursday.

It was Wednesday.

“What you’re experiencing right now Gladio is… something that only Shields can do. We have a link to the royal family, the member of it we serve. Did you hear whispering before you went to bed?”

He nodded slowly, his eyes still locked onto the calendar. It was _yesterday’s date._

His father leaned backwards into the chair with a sigh. “So King Regis returned without Prince Noctis?”

He looked up, quivering. “He collapsed into your arms sobbing, asking why Niflheim couldn’t just have killed him instead. Ignis Scientia definitely looked like he was about to grab every weapon under the sun and bring the war to Niflheim as a one-child-army.”

“And then you heard whispering when you went to bed in the evening. You fell asleep at midnight. And then you woke up, and King Regis came back with Prince Noctis, the date is still the same, and you’re wondering what the hell’s going on.”

Once again he nodded at his father and listened to what the man had to say. As long as the destiny of a Lucis Caelum did not come to a head they were not allowed to die. The only people who could undo a death that happened were the Amicitias; which was why only an Amicitia could be the Shield of the King.

“As long as Prince Noctis’ story isn’t about to come to a close, you’ll find yourself returning back to the day it happened, with things changing.” His father drew a hand through his hair, and Gladio blinked several times. “They’re mostly the same. But sometimes something like a name changes. Here’s hoping you won’t have to learn name differences quickly, though.”

Gladio never asked if his father had learned the name differences. But for the time being all he asked was what to expect.

Only when the royal died did this power come into effect. For his father it was King Regis, for Gladio it was Prince Noctis.

“Sometimes deaths surrounding the royal death might get erased as well. Not always, but it happens sometimes.”

Eventually Clarus said all he had to say about this for the time being.

* * *

It didn’t come up again for a few years. His father every so often talked about it and what to expect whenever it happened, and it was a constant warning in the back of his head. If Prince Noctis died before his time Gladio would simply force the universe to change so he could fulfill his destiny.

He was seething with rage the day it happened again, however.

King Regis and his father were green around the nose, Ignis was almost in hysterics, and the servants who had found the unfortunate pair looked like they were about to pass out. Were it not for his father’s hand on his shoulder he would have likely gone and slapped Ignis.

Noctis.

And Iris.

All because he had left his sister out of his eyes for one minute too long while he went to grab Prince Noctis. Now they were both dead, found outside the Citadel by people who supported Niflheim. They’d found the bastards with the dead children, and Gladio so sincerely wanted to break Ignis Scientia’s nose. Or Prince Noctis’ nose. Either or.

His sister had just been a victim of circumstance, and he was numb with anger and grief as he returned home in the evening. Poor Jared Hester looked like he wanted to say something, but he couldn’t bring himself to talk to Gladio. All fine by him.

He sat down on his sister’s bed, the strange whispering starting up again and nearly splitting his head in half.

“Sometimes deaths surrounding the royal death might get erased as well.”

Iris had better be there to receive the scolding of a lifetime tomorrow. Today. Whichever it was. When the clock struck midnight he was fast asleep, the tears on his face long dry.

* * *

“It was me.”

He was damn right that it had been him, but here they stood. Soaked to the bone and Iris stared at the prince with wide eyes as he said that it was all his fault, but they were standing there. _Alive._

Gladio had rushed to his father as soon as he had taken Iris to the Citadel, had told him the names of the people who were the would-be assassins of Prince Noctis Lucis Caelum and Iris Amicitia. While he was off doing that, Iris had vanished. And Prince Noctis vanished after her.

He remembered his heart nearly exploding when the news of the pair being missing started making the rounds, the servant who Prince Noctis had gone with looking like she might faint.

But there they were.

King Regis grounded the prince – way too soft a punishment in Gladio’s honest opinion, but his opinion of the prince was already not good to begin with. His father had likely told the king about this mess and what had happened before that, so perhaps this was an attempt to find out if there were any other people who might be rearing to become the people who had killed Prince Noctis and whatever innocent bystander who just so happened to be there.

At least Iris was alive.

She looked to _guilty,_ even as she confessed the whole thing was her fault. Somehow he couldn’t be angry at her – she had died, after all!

But so had Prince Noctis.

Perhaps he ought to be nicer to the kid.

* * *

Prince Noctis was in hysterics.

He was also bleeding to death in Gladio’s arms, glass still stuck in his wounds. He’d been too late because of traffic, and by the time he had arrived the whole situation had already gone out of control. Not that there had ever been any hints that it would go that way. He wasn’t that good with his temper, but all he could do right now was kind of helplessly try to stem the flow of blood.

“What’d they do to Ignis!”

The advisor was dead, of course. All he could think about was if he had only ignored his paperwork for once and gone with the two of them they would probably still be safe and alive. But all Gladio arrived to was an entire mob of drunk people hollering at the prince on the ground and the advisor being kicked around.

Fucking broken _glass bottles._

Human bodies were so _fragile._ The prince especially looked like that as he finally calmed down – exhausted, still bleeding out faster than Gladio could stem the flow.

Well, tomorrow he would be there. No matter how pressing the paperwork was, no matter how much his father would chew him out for all of that being late. But by the time the ambulance and the police arrived in this part of the city, Prince Noctis had died with Ignis’ name on his lips.

Gladio didn’t even try to wash off the blood before he collapsed into his bed, the infernal whispering making his already throbbing head throb even worse.

* * *

He was the one they carted to the hospital for stitches.

_Stitches._

Keeping his cool and simply staring these drunkards down had driven them off, the prince and the advisor both rather impressed before panic set in for the two of them.

“You just got yourself mangled for my sake!”

“My job, Noct.”

“Fuck that, you’re bleeding everywhere!”

He caught the strange look Ignis gave him – he had likely stuck his nose in a book in the royal library where it didn’t belong. Which meant that Ignis _knew._ Great. That would make things awkward down the line. Not that he cared right now; everyone was saying how commendable Gladio’s actions had been. Not many people nearly lost their eye to drunkards and did not even put as much as a finger on them. If only people knew.

* * *

“Now, there’s two last things I have to teach you about.”

He just didn’t understand. Every time before that everyone else who died with Noctis had survived. But this time they had to bury Ignis Scientia – even though the prince, too, died in the car crash.

It had taken him some days to approach his father about this issue; especially since Noctis did not speak any longer.

“Sometimes a death way in the past gets changed. Next time you go back, Ignis Scientia might be back. Try not to think too hard about it and instead see it as a gift of the gods. A chance for them to live.”

“Those… are the changes that occur. You talked about that the first time.”

“I’m surprised you remember that much.”

Clarus Amicitia looked so _old._ Gladio was so painfully aware of how fragile a human life was, especially after having to stand there and pretend to be strong while the prince was sobbing into his arms. Just like the king had done all those years ago, in an outcome of a situation that Gladio had never had any control over.

“The second thing… You’ll lose that power eventually. When their destiny comes to a head. When all the stakes have been cast, when a final confrontation of a sort happens. You’ll feel it, my mother said. Like an old friend leaving you.”

He tried to keep that in mind as the whispering started a few months later. He hadn’t even _heard_ about Noctis dying yet, which was even more terrifying.

* * *

Noctis, Iris and Prompto had all run off to see if the fishing spot was actually there. Which left Gladio and Ignis; the advisor had his arms crossed on the steering wheel and his forehead leaning against these.

“Let me get this straight. If we had continued driving we would have run into a stray patrol that was actually looking for Cor the Immortal. They would have cut off or escape route.”

Much like his father had predicted, Ignis had inexplicably been back after that one night. The car crash had still occurred as Gladio learned from his father, but they had both escaped almost surprisingly unharmed. A broken leg and a cracked rib, but otherwise Ignis Scientia had only had scratches telling that he had been in a nearly fatal car crash caused by people who wanted the war to end by making Lucis surrender.

“So much like any good Niffs they would have gunned down Noctis, thrown Prompto off the cliff and into the sea, and Iris, you and I would have been taken captive. Put on an airship en route to Insomnia. With plans of stringing up Noctis’ corpse as show of power, and us on the execution row to make an example of all who dare disobey the empire from now on.”

Gladio shook his head, the distant laughter of his sister and the other two more relieving than anything else in the world. The patrol would stop before they reached this place; they had discussed how lucky they had been to find the prince and his retinue just at the time they were about to turn around.

It had only been a trip for fun, too. Iris had suggested they check out this supposedly great fishing spot before the four of them left for the cave behind the waterfall.

“Well, Iris and I would have been waiting for our execution.”

“...”

“You kind of, you know. Slit your own throat before we ever reached Insomnia. Don’t do that kind of bullshit again.”

“As advisor it is my duty to make certain that some secrets never--”

“As advisor it’s your damn duty to stay alive and not kill yourself.”

Ignis sighed and sat back up in the Regalia. “Very well. No extreme measures from now on, even when caught by the enemy.”

“We shouldn’t be getting caught. Come on, let’s see if those dorks down there found the fishing spot already.”

“Fine.”

Somehow Ignis sounded less than happy as he followed Gladio. The strange mood vanished when Noctis shoved a giant fish into Ignis’ arms later, however.

* * *

He’d been a split second too late. Noctis was gone. The Archaean roared as the empire arrived to attack him, but all Gladio could do was stare down where Noctis had fallen. Just a split second.

Everyone else had been too far away, and Prompto was sobbing his eyes out. Ignis’ expression was unreadable, but time passed. The empire continued fighting the Archaean, the fight continued raging even as Ignis gently coaxed Prompto into standing up again and saying they needed to find a place to spend the night.

He awoke again at the caravan, Noctis stirring next to him and Ignis already leaning against the wall of it with a cup of coffee in his hands.

Gladio rubbed his temples with a groan.

Well, at least he knew what he needed to do now. His father wouldn’t be around to help clean up the mess ever again, after all. Thinking about his father in general was a bad idea – it soured his already awful mood. He missed the man. It made his anger spike when he actually managed to grab Noctis, a cliff now separating him from Ignis and Prompto. But Noctis was _alive_ and that was all that mattered. If only this infernal brat would stop complaining about every little thing. He had no idea he’d died so many times already, acted like all of this was the worst thing to ever happen to him. The fact that their home was under imperial occupation notwithstanding. And the empire was due to arrive, anyway.

Oh, he hated snapping like that, but Noctis needed a stern talking to.

Surprisingly enough it seemed to make the previously slouching prince walk a little taller, prouder.

* * *

It was a slaughter.

The blood had long since been washed away by the rain, but Gladio could only stand there and stare. There were seven people at the Altar of the Tidemother as lightning flashed and lit up the night. The roar of thunder dulled the sounds of the sea crashing against what remained of the Altar, and he and Prompto could only stand there and stare as Chancellor Ardyn Izunia of Niflheim bowed to them and left, completely unbothered by everything else.

Prompto made a gagging sound as he rushed forward to check if any of the four people lying around were still breathing. Gladio knew that it was futile.

Lunafreya Nox Fleuret lay there with her eyes mercifully closed – though her pristinely white dress was stained in washed-out blood by now. It was completely soaked, actually, a strange reddish tint surrounding what looked like a stomach wound. She had bled out slowly and likely in agony, despite the peaceful expression on her face.

Ravus Nox Fleuret looked like a puppet someone had discarded – on his stomach, a clean slice through his uniform telling the story of a sword being shoved through his back, ending his life almost mercifully quickly compared to his beloved sister.

The remains of the only bloodline that had the ability to heal lay scattered here, a pair of siblings not unlike him and Iris; the only exception being that those two had a harsher destiny than the Amicitias ahead of him. Gladio did not even _want_ to remember what it was like to find his little sister dead. Ravus being dead too was… a mercy, perhaps. Gladio had certainly wished to be dead as well when Iris was involved.

Ignis Scientia also had just a single injury – a stab through the heart. He was lying there on his back with his eyes wide open, and Gladio held back a gag as he closed his friend’s eyes. Whatever had happened here, at least Ignis didn’t have to suffer for long, though his way to get here had been agonising, likely. It definitely looked like he had a broken wrist, but he was not going to check that closer.

Noctis Lucis Caelum looked as peaceful as Lunafreya – but he had been skewered several times. He had likely been unconscious when whoever had decided to stab him a few times had begun their assault, but much like Ignis it didn’t look like he had suffered long.

Lightning and thunder split the skies as the rain intensified just at the same time as Prompto started howling.

Whatever had happened here, those four took to their graves with them – and the only other person who knew…

He threw a glance over his shoulders, into the direction that Ardyn Izunia had vanished into. But that was irrelevant now. He was still holding Ignis’ cold body in his arms and noticed that he and Noctis had similar wounds. Which meant they had been killed by the same weapon.

And the only weapon that really fit this right now was Ravus’ discarded sword.

Had Ardyn killed Ravus, then? The High Commander had been skewered by a different weapon than his sister.

He dropped Ignis’ body and instead went over to the still howling Prompto. He couldn’t exactly tell him that it would probably be okay, that Noctis would be alive again and he would not remember a single thing here. For the time being all he could do was let his friend cry in his arms, ask why all of this had to happen and why the gods were so unforgiving.

Sometimes Gladio wondered that too.

* * *

“You’re the Shield of the King!”

Ignis’ voice was shrill, even though he was exhausted.

“I didn’t care! I legitimately did not care! Blind or seeing; who cares! Now look where your _petty bickering_ got us!”

Again Gladio had been a split second too late. Ignis had heard everything that happened, he realised with a dull moment of shock. A moment of where he let his frustration with how Noctis acted get the better of him, and now both the prince and his best friend were dead. Dead just like the Malboro that had killed them, though their deaths were decidedly less messy than the one the creature had died. Ignis could be so unrelentingly ugly and vengeful whenever Noctis was concerned.

The advisor stabbed his finger into Gladio’s chest.

“This better not happen again. Asshole.”

And with that he stumbled off, still blind and clutching his cane like a lifeline. Gladio barely registered Ignis calling “I’ll see you in hell!” before he left.

He was left with the judging dead stare of Prompto as he floated in the muddy water on his back. Prompto had always been alive, somehow, or he died somewhere so far away that he’d never had to see the blonde like a puppet with cut strings.

He ignored Noctis as he slowly walked the same way that Ignis had left.

He wasn’t surprised when he found Ignis on his way back, hacking and coughing and refusing help.

“At least let me die,” he wheezed out when Gladio tried helping him up, “so I can be together with Noctis again and thank Prompto for being such a good friend to the end. Unlike other people.”

* * *

After Fodina Caestino he and Ignis had forged a truce somewhat, at least enough of a fragile peace that let them work together and discuss things after Tenebrae while Noctis anxiously paced around the train after receiving Shiva’s blessing.

“Have you had any jumps lately?” Ignis’ question was almost casual – Gladio hadn’t told him about the mine. Normally he at least notified Ignis whenever these jumps happened, something that the advisor always appreciated. It made planning easier, he said.

“… Not since Altissia, no.” A lie, but a necessary one. “Which is… scary. I thought we’d have Ardyn jumping at us around every corner.”

Ignis staring at him with such unrelenting hatred on his face as he died of poisoning was something that would likely haunt Gladio until the end of his days. Even the blind eyes seemed to blaze with utter resentment and he shuddered deeply. Ignis frowned, likely noticing the movement.

“You do have a point.”

In fact, Gladio would not have to use his powers for ten years.

He almost missed it as the dark continued swallowing the earth. At least all of this nonsense always meant that Noctis was safe. His charge. His _friend._ No matter how many times he wished the prince would act a little more regal and like someone who could lead the people, he did enjoy having him around. Him and those moods of his. Him and the way he managed to charm people with his unconventional ways.

When Ignis told him and Prompto what the fate of the Chosen was, he almost didn’t want to believe it. He recalled his father’s words – that his powers leaving him would be like an old friend leaving his side. He felt nothing of the sort when Noctis reappeared after ten years. Felt nothing when they marched into Insomnia. Nothing, nothing, nothing, not even when Noctis parted ways with them to fulfill his calling.

Ignis asked about that as they stood in the elevator, anxiety thick in the air around them. When they stepped out of it and he was still thinking how to answer that question, Prompto stopped. There was light falling in through the dusty windows, filtered and awfully milky, but there was _sunlight_ falling in through the window. Ignis let out a strangled sob.

“To… answer your question, I don’t know. My father said I’d know it when the power left me, but...”

He hadn’t felt it.

Prompto pushed open the door to the throne room.

After having seen him die so many times, there was something godawful about this scene in particular. The world had been saved. The sun was rising, Ardyn was dead and the Scourge had been eliminated. But as he stood there with tears rolling down his face while Ignis sobbed on his knees and Prompto avoided looking at the scene, he realised that _this_ price was too high. All those people dead because the dark had blindsided all of them, and now the king they had been waiting for for so long was the last victim of the dark. His sister would never get the closure on her crush – she’d talked about it with him exactly once. How after the time she’d lost her way and Noctis found her she’d always kind of loved him. It made his heart constrict when he remembered the time they had died together as children, but with Noctis dead now there was no way Iris would get to talk to him about it.

They settled for immensely dusty but surprisingly still intact quarters, and Gladio found himself staring at a calendar. An old one, still showing dates from ten years ago.

Sunday.

The Sunday Altissia had been turned into rubble, in fact. The fate was the same, and he let himself fall on the bed backwards with a groan. His entire body ached worse than his heart did. His head throbbed and there was a strange hissing noise that had been stuck in his ears for a while.

He almost hoped it was the whispering that told him he was about to go back in time 24 hours. But there was absolutely no way he would be able to change this outcome. They would have needed more time to prepare, another plan to change Noctis’ fate. Making plans was not Gladio’s forte – Ignis was the one who could plan ahead meticulously. Brain _and_ brawn when needed. Gladio was mostly brawn. He was better with people, and where he failed Prompto generally succeeded.

“This is… unfair,” he murmured into the silent room.

The hissing continued until he closed his eyes sometime before midnight.

* * *

He woke disoriented and frankly kind of terrified.

The Altissian sun was falling in through the window, and Noctis was knocking at his door.

“Gladio, are you up yet? We need to,” a yawn, “leave. Luna’s giving her speech soon.”

The words were exactly the same. He lunged for the calendar on the table and nearly choked when he saw what had changed. It was the same old one, the paper gone yellow after years of disuse. It showed the date.

Sunday.

The Sunday Altissia had been turned into rubble, in fact.

He’d gone to bed wishing the world had had more time to change Noctis’ fate.

The rest of it played out eerily similar to the time he and Prompto arrived at the Altar of the Tidemother only to find Noctis, Ignis, Lunafreya and Ravus dead and Ardyn on his way out.

Nothing of the sort happened now. Lunafreya remained as dead as ever. Noctis was unconscious.

Ravus was slowly dragging himself up with the help of his sword, the same sword that had killed Ignis and Noctis in another version of these events.

Ignis and Ardyn were missing.

All of these things were happening so rapidly he was having trouble following them. Ravus was alive – _alive!_ – and offered them passage to Gralea because that was where he suspected Ignis had wound up. Ardyn had offered the advisor to come with him, and after what seemed like an eternity of consideration, Ignis had accepted the offer.

Choices changed whenever someone turned back time to avoid a death.

It was Ravus who approached him when Noctis and Prompto were running on ahead to find a way to Ignis as fast as possible.

“A word, please.” The High Commander dragged a hand through his hair. “I know your family has… certain powers, much like mine has. You look like you are a fish out of time; did something happen the last time?”

Gladio blinked several times. “There was no last time. I woke up ten years in the past.”

“… Ten _years?”_

He looked ahead, watched Noctis and Prompto. “Noct fulfilled his destiny. Dead on his throne. Sun was rising.”

Ravus glared at the ground, clearly trying to process this. “And you wound up… ten years in the past? What happened last time?”

“Last time you were leavin’, Ignis was going blind, and Noct was unconscious.”

He lowly retold of what happened afterwards, up to and including Ravus’ gruesome end at Ardyn’s hand. The High Commander did not even flinch even though he was just told he had _died._

“… So that’s what Gentiana meant with…” Ravus was interrupted by Noctis yelling something in surprise; a bunch of MTs that were making their way over to them. “Never you mind. Go, find Ignis. I can tell you later, once I took care of these.”

And on they went, with them arriving just in time to see Ignis collapse. Gladio had always had his suspicions about what had happened at the Altar of the Tidemother, but he had never asked. The Ring of the Lucii lying between Ignis and Noctis, and Ignis quietly asking for forgiveness had been a dead giveaway of what had happened, it had fuelled his anger at Noctis’ refusal for wearing it. But now he saw it on Ignis’ hand, his skin charred and his breathing slowing down.

“What the hell were you thinking!?”

It wasn’t until he watched Noctis vanish into the Crystal that he realised that significant things had changed. Ignis and Gladio both knew of Ardyn’s plans; Gladio knew how they were going to end and Ignis knew his past.

He had gone to bed wondering how things would have played out if they had had more time. He had awoken ten years in the past.

“Gentiana – Shiva. She appeared to me before I left to follow my orders and said that soon would be the day destiny returned to mortal hands,” was all the High Commander said when he arrived to find Gladio and Prompto still staring at the Crystal, with Ignis passed out in Gladio’s arms.

Ten years and they were entering the Citadel together, still in the dark. Ignis, Ravus and Gladio had spent years devising a plan to see this through, to ensure that no one else would have to die on this day, ten years later.

He stopped exactly once, after the Fierce went down. As he was gasping for breath it felt like a part of him was leaving him. Something that he was used to, an old friend suddenly gone. Just as his father had said.

Which meant his king’s destiny was coming to a head.

* * *

“Ignis told me, you know.”

Gladio looked up, the shock on his face plain and clear.

“He… what?”

“He always told me when you told him that something had happened. I never said anything because you were so sure that I didn’t know.”

Noctis, on his throne. A king at last, his smile almost as radiant as the sun that fell in through the windows. Gladio was on his knees but now he was staring up at the king with his mouth kind of hanging open.

“Stand up, Gladiolus Amicitia.” He did so, and Noctis’ smile only got brighter. “You went through hells few other men went through, all for my sake. Although it took me a while to accept why you couldn’t tell me, I think I understand now. You helped change this world for the better and never expected anything in return other than me acting like a king once in a while. … Thank you. Thank you for everything, Gladio. I just hope you’ll still be my Shield, getting married or not.”

Gladio paused.

“And who told you about _that?”_

“Prompto, actually. So if you’re gonna beat Ignis up in a sparring match, you gotta take care of Prompto as well.”

“Perhaps I should take on all three of you simultaneously.”

Noctis laughed – Gladio laughed with him. A king at last, no matter how many times he died along the way.


End file.
